Witch Hunt
by Fatal Overdose
Summary: Jack Spicer lives in Colonial Virginia, circa 1632. He's spent his entire life inside, never speaking to or seeing anyone other than his parents. Eventually, a woman calling herself Wuya comes to collect a debt... Cue dramatic music. Witch trials AU.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't know why, but I can't stop writing stuff in this category! Inspired by yet another Billy Talent song (yeah, yeah, shut up), this one's 'The Dead Can't Testify'. Anyway, this is an AU slash fic, Chase and Jack, and the time as I'm typing this is 3:47am, so there's going to be a bunch of mistakes and I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill me for this.**

**Another thing not to kill me for, I'm probably gonna torture Spicer a little, not sure yet. I know I could've just typed this after I finished, but again, half asleep here. Unfortunately not asleep enough, or chances are I wouldn't be writing this. So, apologies for the long-winded author's note you probably skimmed over or skipped entirely, and please review, it brings me joy.**

_Jamestown, VA, 1632..._

It was a normal day for Jack Spicer, and that basically meant he was locked in the basment, away from whatever company his parents had decided to invite over today. A young man, his last name might have been Young or something like that, not that it mattered.

It wasn't that he particularly minded being in the basement, it gave him time to think, and he'd managed to make a few things. He'd come up with a new idea recently, a light that wouldn't need fire, and a basic design involving some glass and wire, but no means of giving it power. He knew it would work eventually, he just had to find a way to give it energy.

He couldn't do anything now, though. His parents had 'forgotten' to leave candles again, so he was forced to sit in the dark room. Ugh, something was dripping on him, too.

His parents were... how to describe it... They were quite rich, having been one of the few families to make a substantial amount of money, but his father didn't want to waste any of his cash on some freak who never left the house, which left Jack with only what he could find in the basement, and nothing to wear but a single pair of shoes, some pants, and an old, ragged black coat several sizes too big. Jack understood his logic, but it was still absurd.

The boy was actually quite fond of the basement, but he would like to see outside sometimes. He wasn't even allowed to look out of windows, but he knew that there was more to everything than this house. Maybe he could leave someday, after the villagers got over the ridiculous paranoia and stopped killing people. He didn't know what killing meant, but it didn't sound very nice.

"Jack, honey, you can come out now, if you want." His mother called from the top of the stairs in her overly perky voice. "There's some bread left over, too!"

Shutting his eyes against the sudden brightness that had invaded his sanctuary, he nodded silently, and she left the door open so he could find his way.

His mother handed him the remaining food, which actually looked delicious. His stomach growled in agreement, and he took a few candles off the table to bring with him.

A new voice cut through the thick silence, belonging to a man he knew all too well. "Not so fast."

Jack froze, wishing he hadn't left the basement.

"Where do you think you're going with all of that?" His father placed a huge hand on the albino's shoulder.

"I was just going back to the basement." He managed to keep the tremor out of his voice. The last thing he needed right now were more bruises.

"Put back the candles." The large man growled.

"But Dad, I-"

"Put. Them. Back." He squeezed Jack's shoulder hard enough to make the boy yelp.

Shivering slightly, he set all of them back down. "Sorry." he stepped back into the basement, wincing as the door slammed behind him. There was a click, meaning that Jack was once again locked in the room.

At least he had food this time.

...

It was dark when he woke up. Of course it was, he chided himself, he lived in an underground room with no windows. His cheek held the imprint of the stone floor, and the arm he had accidentally slept on was numb. Well, that was just great. If he had been thinking last night instead of going over his plans for the light, he would've at least slept on the soggy straw mattress that lay in one corner.

He felt along the wall to avoid falling, and barely managed to avoid tripping on the bottom step of the stairs. The feeling in his arm had resigned to an awkward tingle, so he tried the door with his other hand. It was locked. Putting his back against the cool wood, he sunk to the floor. He could hear muffled voices from outside the doorway.

"Why are you here, Wuya?" His father spoke.

"Because, Spicer, you owe me."

"I paid you a long time ago, now get _out!"_

The strange woman laughed ominously. "Are you sure you want to do that?" Her voice suddenly got lower, and Jack could no longer her what they were discussing.

"I'll be back soon." He heard the front door open and close.

He felt slightly shaken, although he didn't know why. He managed to navigate the room and sat down in one of the corners. Why did his father owe that woman? What had he done? He didn't recognize the voice at all, so she wasn't a friend of the family. Wuya... That name sent shivers down his spine. Maybe she-

His thoughts were interrupted as the front door once again burst open.

"Wuya! I demand to know what's going on!"

"The basement is where it should be." She instructed someone.

Light flooded into the room as the men broke down the door. Suddenly blinded, Jack did what he could to hide, but to no avail.

The men grabbed him. Jack struggled, twisting around in their grip and hitting at them pathetically, but it was useless. One of the men let out a string of angry cuss words, hitting the boy harshly in the back of the head. The albino went limp as everything around him faded into inky blackness. The last thing he heard was the angry whisper of the woman, saying _"It's time to pay your dues..."_

...

"...viously he's been cursed from birth, if he's not a witch or the like." Jack didn't recognize the man's voice, but honestly he wasn't apt to pay much attention right now, seeing as his head felt like it had been crushed by a boulder. He couldn't see anything, there was a strip of fabric over his eyes, but he knew he was in chains. There was a dirty rag stuffed in his mouth, presumably to keep him from talking.

"But he's our son!" That would be his mother. Were they talking about him? He began to listen to the voices, each one now clamoring to be heard. They must be in a meeting or something.

A few pounding noises, and the people quieted. "Be that as it may, Mrs. Spicer, you and your husband are getting off easily, because many of the townsfolk agree that you are good, god-fearing folk. This boy, however, should have been killed the moment he was born."

Wuya spoke this time, shrill and annoying. "He must have put you under a spell, thinking that abomination was your son!"

"Yes! The boy is a witch! Just look at the freak!" The fabric over his eyes was torn off, and he blinked, squinting at the sudden light as his vision adjusted. A few gasps and even a scream rung out around the meeting hall.

"His eyes are red! That alone is proof he is in league with the devil himself!" All around, people nodded and muttered agreement, refusing to look the boy in the eye, lest he curse them.

One quick pound. Jack looked over to see the judge, face stoic and voice grave."It is decided, then. The boy is a witch, and he will be executed tomorrow."

Executed?! No! He didn't want to be! Executed was the same as killed! He didn't want to be killed!

Two more men approached where the boy lay. He looked at them, silently pleading to be released, but they spared him no pity. He choked back a sob, and realized that there was... liquid of some sort coming out of his eyes. What was this?

The blindfold once again eclipsed his vision, and he was lifted and thrown over one of the men's shoulders. He could hear whispers all around him, scathing insults directed at him.

"...should've been drowned at birth..."

"...such a shame, the Spicers being tricked like that..."

"...horrible witch child..."

"Monster!"

"Freak!"

"Demon!"

"How disgusting."

_I'm not a witch!_ He wanted to scream, but he could do nothing with the rag in his mouth. He struggled uselessly in the man's grip.

_I'm not a witch..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Tada! Another chapter!**

**To the people that favorited, followed, and reviewed this story, thank you! **

**animevampLlover: In comparison to... well, pretty much everything else I've written, I'm actually being pretty nice to the characters... so far... Mwahahahahahaha! Ahem... Anyway, second chapter, starting... now!**

Jack yelped as the man's fist connected with his face, with enough force to send the boy crashing into one of the walls. Pain shot through his left shoulder as it hit the stone at an odd angle, and he slid to the ground, dazed. The boy reached up tentatively to feel his now broken nose, and found something dark red and warm staining his fingers. He'd seen it before, but didn't know what it was called. The man grabbed him by the collar of his shirt lifted him into the air.

Surprisingly, he did nothing but set the boy on his feet, muttering "Accursed witch..." before he slammed the cell door.

The albino boy examined his new prison. In all honesty, it was better than the basement. There was a window, though it was really more of a rectangular hole with metal bars, and it wasn't the least bit damp. The floor, also stone, was covered with straw. Jack had the presence of mind to scrape together enough of the thatch to form a mildly comfortable bed, and lay down, being sure to keep any weight off of his injured arm.

If it hadn't been for the guard, this would've been a nice change. It wasn't as though Jack wasn't used to being injured, so it really it was an improvement.

The door opened again. The boy tensed, expecting more pain, but instead of the large man that had just left, a pretty red haired woman stepped through the opening.

"Hello, Jack." She crooned. He recognized the voice as belonging to the very person who had gotten him into this situation, Wuya.

"What do you want?" He demanded, sitting up.

She ignored his question, stepping gracefully across the room and sitting right next to the injured teenager. "Poor thing." She said with feigned sympathy. "You have blood all over you."

"Blood?" He asked. "What is that?"

"Oh, you poor, naive little child." She shook her head. Then, by doing nothing other than waving her hand, all of the injuries the boy had sustained were gone, as if they had never occurred.

"You-?" Jack was beyond confused now. He knew neither he nor his parents could do such a thing.

"I'm a witch, child." Wuya told him, trying in vain to keep the smugness out of her voice.

"I don't think I get it. What's a witch?"

The woman managed to keep her grin from looking too predatory. It was just as she had planned! The child knew nothing of the world, and would be easy to control. She had cursed him with pale skin, red hair, and red eyes so his father and mother would keep him locked away from the world, too ashamed of their mistake to allow the boy to leave. Everything would work perfectly, as long as that bastard, Chase, stayed out of the way... but back to the matter at hand. "A witch is someone with a certain... ability... that most people don't have. They can do things mortals can only dream of."

Jack's eyes widened. "Why do the people hate witches?"

She brushed some of his red hair out of his eyes, forcing a sickeningly sweet look onto her face. "They're jealous of what we can do."

"W-we? I'm not a-"

"Of course not. Not yet, anyway."

"Yet?" He had to admit, this sounded interesting, but he didn't trust this woman at all. She seemed so fake. Not only that, but it was her fault he was in this mess in the first place.

"Yet." She promised. "All you have to do is agree to join me, and we'll just lea-"

"No." He said shortly.

Wuya gaped. "No? You would refuse to join me?"

"I don't trust you enough to help you with... whatever it is you're doing."

Rage flashed in her eyes, and she slapped him across the face, hard enough to leave a mark. "Then _die!"_ the witch hissed, slamming the door shut. It didn't matter too much. If the boy's life ended tomorrow, she could still accomplish her plans. That was why she'd had him arrested for witchcraft. He would either have joined her and disappeared, or refused her and been burned at the stake. Either way would suit her, and besides that, he made an excellent scapegoat.

Back in his 'room', Jack stared out the window. It was the first time he'd seen the outside world, and it was so beautiful... pinpoints of light against dark blue, and a giant silvery crescent that hung in the midst of it. He briefly wondered how it stayed up there as he drifted off to sleep.

...

"Get up." Came a gruff voice, accompanied by a sharp kick to his back.

Jack did so, sitting cross legged on the floor before stretching his arms and yawning, trying to shake off the fog in his mind that lingered from sleep.

"Breakfast." The man said, tossing a tray with a single piece of stale bread to the ground in front of the tired adolescent. "The execution's in an hour, witch." He spat on the ground, missing Jack's shoe by an inch or so, then left, closing and locking the wooden door.

"Jerk..." he muttered, picking up what apparently amounted to breakfast. Looking at the bread with mild distaste, he chose to listen to his stomach, and took a bite. "Ow!" he glared at the offending food in frustration. The stupid thing was like a rock! His teeth hadn't even made a dent. He tossed it over his shoulder and placed his head in his hands.

"Well, well. Someone seems to be in a foul mood."

Jack gasped and whirled around to face the intruder, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. A strange man leaned casually against the wall, tossing the discarded food up and down. He had long black hair, and looked at Jack with an amused expression on his face.

The albino stood up slowly, and backed away from him. "How'd you get in?"

The man disappeared, and Jack made an interesting squeaking sound, accidentally falling over backwards and, as luck would have it, right onto the stranger.

"Now, now, Spicer. I'm not here to hurt you." He said, still maintaining the same expression.

"Not another one..." Jack groaned, not truly upset by the intrusion. He decided he definitely liked this man more than Wuya.

"Another one?" The newcomer quirked an eyebrow.

"You're another witch, like Wuya."

The man smiled. "Correct. My name is Chase Young. I've come to offer you a... proposition of sorts."

"No." He said automatically.

The man looked mildly surprised, but didn't argue or try to get Jack to listen. "Suit yourself then. I believe we will see each other soon." He vanished, leaving Jack cold, hungry, and feeling more lonely than he had in his life.

**Execution! Dun dun dun...**

**I think I fixed most of it this time around...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Three chapter in three days! Wohoo! It won't last, sorry to say. I have one more week before summer school starts, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to write as often. Chances are I'll be done with this story by then, though, so...**

**As always, please review the story, and to the people who've reviewed, followed, or favorited this story so far, thank you so much, you bring me joy! (I write better and faster if people give me their opinions, wink wink, nudge nudge)**

The guard had tied his hands behind his back, and the rope was beginning to cut into his wrists uncomfortably as they marched down the street into the middle of town.

"Afraid yet?" One of the men behind him asked.

"I don't know what that means." Jack answered honestly. The man gave a snort of disbelief.

All the villagers stood by the side of the road, jeering, laughing, shouting, and a few even stabbed at him with what looked to be giant, three-pronged forks. They seemed like an odd thing to bring to an 'execution', whatever that was.

The man behind him, one of the two that had first dragged Jack from his home, prodded him again with the huge metal utensil. "Keep moving." came the gruff voice.

Jack hurried his pace, tripping over the cobblestones and landing none too lightly on his side. The man wasted no time in hauling him to his feet by the back of his ragged coat, and they continued. Soon enough, they had reached their destination. The albino watched with a mix of curiosity and dread as he was bound to a large wooden pole, first with rope, then with chains. More and more wood was thrown at his feet, and eventually someone tied another blindfold around his eyes, and another gag was placed in his mouth.

"Today we come to witness the cleansing of our town as this witch is punished for his transgressions." He waited for the cheering to end. "Only by burning this child alive can we save his soul from whatever demon he has promised it, and by extension, we save ourselves."

Wait, burning alive? No, no no no no no! He knew from experience that burning was very, very painful, and not something his wanted to be a part of. He should've listened to the witches! Pulling at his arms experimentally, he realized with a growing sense of dread that he wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

"This boy has cursed our town, bringing plague and famine onto us good, god-fearing folk, and it will not go unpunished!" His voice rang out, loud and clear, followed by the roaring of cheers by all who had attended. They wanted to see him burn.

Jack understood what 'afraid' meant now.

"Now we watch as the sinner pays for what he has done!" The cacophony of voices raised themselves against the poor boy, again throwing insults and curses at him like so many stones, and a few real stones hit his chest painfully and bounced away.

With new fervor, the albino tried to free himself as the smell of burning invaded his nose, making his chest heave and his eyes water. In a matter of seconds, the flames had reached him.

Oh god, it hurt! It hurt so much! He let out a pathetic sob around the fabric in his mouth, the pain beyond words. Someone make it stop! He thrashed wildly in an attempt to escape the fire, escape the pain and the laughs and cheers of the people watching him die, slowly and agonizingly, screaming muted by the gag in his mouth. He should have accepted Chase's proposition, but he had little time left to regret it now.

Suddenly, however, the noise of the crowd stopped along with the fire, and the cocky presence he knew belonged to the witch made itself known, along with a feeling of relief.

"Seems as though someone got themselves into a bit of trouble." The voice said.

Jack felt the rope and chains around him loosen, and undid the blindfold and gag himself. The villagers now stood in silent fear of the man who stood before them. He had probably done his irritating appearing act.

"So, you people want a witch?" Chase shouted to the silent crowd. "I'll show you exactly the kind of thing you're dealing with!" His eyes flashed from their original dark brown to a golden color, pupils turning into slits. He suddenly grew in size, scales forcing themselves out of his skin, tail appearing behind him, until before the terrified people stood a dragon. "This is what you should fear!" He roared, sending the others running, scrambling over each other as they fled for their lives.

He growled again, and they froze. Nobody dared to move for fear of being eaten by this new demon. Chase turned to the terrified boy and winked. "Jack Spicer. Do you accept my proposition?"

He nodded, standing on his feet shakily, tears rolling down his face and making tracks in the soot.

The dragon thing raised what could only be considered an eyebrow in human terms. "You would agree before hearing my offer. You are sure you have no questions?"

"What is that?" He pointed upwards, toward the giant... thing stretching out above him.

Chase looked momentarily confused, but caught on immediately. "That's called the sky, Jack."

Jack smiled weakly. His legs gave out suddenly, and one clawed hand caught him as he fell. It may have just been his imagination, but he could've sworn that the dirt and stones of the street had dissolved before he lost consciousness. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it?

**Oof, third degree burns do not a happy person make. I think I overdid the whole 'burning alive' part, and this chapter ended up way too short, and the ending wasn't very good... I think that's it! Review and I'll love you forever!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Can't... stop... updating... must... talk... like... this...**

**Hm... not really sure what to say other than please please please please PLEEEAAAAASE review!**

**Just fluff in the beginning here, and I think this chapter will be mostly from Chase's perspective. Er... as much as it can be from someone's perspective when it's written in third person. Eh, it's 3rd person limi- wait, why am I explaining this? Whatever, just read the damn thing.**

Chase was watching the boy sleep.

He had already given him different clothing, laid him in one of the beds, taken care of all the burns the child had, and now was just waiting for him to awaken. The boy was strange looking, but not unattractive. Quite frankly, the only reason he had had any interest in the boy originally was because Wuya seemed rather... suspicious as of late, and of course there was no way he would let that go.

It had surprised and intrigued him when Spicer had so blatantly refused to make a deal with him before. He had briefly entertained the idea of just allowing him to burn to death, but the smug expression on the other Heylin witch's face put a stop to that immediately. Besides that, the child seemed quite intelligent, aside from his outright naivete. Not knowing what the sky was... honestly, what on earth did his parents think they were doing when they raised him?

The boy stirred and muttered something unintelligible in his sleep, probably reliving the near-death experience in his dream world. The dragon-witch felt a pang of something. The emotion was familiar, but he hadn't felt it in a long time, nearly 1500 years. Sympathy, perhaps? No, that was ridiculous. This... this _boy_ couldn't possibly have any influence over his emotions. But all the same...

His musings were interrupted as the child stirred again, opening his bright red eyes slowly. He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck and saying something about giant cats and fire. His eyes widened as he caught sight of Chase, and he screamed rather girlishly, much to the older man's amusement.

Chase smiled, reveling in the young man's fear, and allowed his eyes to flash gold again.

Jack hugged the blankets to himself, as if they would protect him. Really, this was too much fun, Chase thought. He should save people from being burned alive more often. They were quite entertaining.

"Awake now?" He asked.

"Yeah, but how did- but you were- but I was- what?" Near death experiences really did nothing for one's mental health.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to ask a more specific question." He reclined back in his chair, looking at the confused boy. Something about him was very... interesting.

"You're a witch." He said bluntly.

Chase merely shrugged at the accusation. "Of a kind, yes."

Jack hesitated. "Are you... evil?"

"Oh, most definitely. But rest assured, child, if I wanted to injure you, I would have just left you there to die instead of taking the trouble to heal your injuries."

At the mention of yesterday, he stiffened noticeably. "So that actually happened?"

"Of course."

"But I don't have any burns..." He said in wonder.

"I am an evil dragon-witch, if you recall, boy."

"I'm not a kid!" He said defensively.

"How old are you, then?"

"Twenty, give or take."

Chase had to admit this surprised him. The bo- he was very small for his supposed age, and the lack of any facial hair or pigment certainly didn't help his case. "Does the fact that I'm evil... _intimidate_ you?" He leaned in close so that his face was only a few inches away from the albino's, and smiled in the way a shark would grin at a wounded seal.

Jack's face reddened, and he moved backwards almost imperceptibly, but it was enough for the other man to notice. Considering it his triumph, he again sat back in his chair.

"Why did you save me?" He asked.

"I would have gladly let you perish, believe me, but a certain red haired woman was getting far too happy for my liking." He spoke about Wuya, of course. "I don't suppose you have any idea why she suddenly had any interest in you?"

"She said something about... collecting a debt, then she had some guys break into my room, and suddenly everyone thought _I_ was a witch." He swallowed, remembering the cruel way all the people had treated him, and his fists were clenched at his sides. He may be useful yet.

"Spicer," He said slowly. "Have you ever heard of a lovely little thing called _'revenge'?"_

...

Three months passed rather quickly. Jack had an aptitude for magic, and progressed beautifully. He was nowhere near the level of the other witch, but immortality left a lot of time for practice. He got along fairly well with Chase's warriors, although he wasn't very good at being evil, his childish perception and borderline cowardice were baffling to Chase, who blamed it on years spent in darkness.

After the first week or so, stupid questions like 'What is that?' ceased, and now the boy at least knew what a tree was. At this point, there were actually very few things he _didn't_ know, but his endless curiosity and near hero-worship of Chase Young were irritating to no end.

He had thought after all that, Spicer would be dying to take out his frustration and anger on the townspeople, but he proved to be quite patient. It was possible that he wished to forget the entire thing and move on with his life, but that didn't quite seem to be the case.

Things were working out quite well.

On the opposite side of the world, however, a certain redhead was not happy. She had been so close, only for everything to come crashing down around her ears. The village was still very much under her control, but that wasn't enough. She wanted the very world to bend to her will.

A grin spread across her face. She knew exactly how to make it happen, and ensure the success of her plans.

Jack Spicer would have to die.

...

"AAAHH!" Jack screamed as he was tackled and pinned to the ground by a tiger.

"You'll have to do better than that." Chase rolled his eyes.

"I can't help it," he sniffed. "I don't have any coordination, and you won't let me use any magic."

"You can't always rely on magic as a crutch. Some day, you're going to be in a situation where the only thing you will have available is yourself." The boy was resourceful, and had a staggering intellect, but he was beyond helpless in hand-to-hand combat. Chase knew he was pushing him too hard, but he couldn't stand it if the other was to get injured solely because he refused to learn martial arts.

Of course, pitting him against a giant cat didn't help the bravery aspect much.

"But if I can't fight, you'll be there, right?" He looked up with large eyes.

The dragon lord sighed. "I'm not always going to be there to hold your hand, Spicer. You need to learn to fend for yourself or-" _or I'll lose you._

"Or what?" Jack asked, picking himself up off the ground and dusting off his black coat. No matter how many times he was offered something different, the boy insisted on wearing the ragged old thing around everywhere, like a kind of security blanket.

"Nothing. I have to answer the door." He excused himself. It wasn't entirely a lie, after all, someone was coming, but had it not been for the near slip-up, one of his warriors would have allowed the person entry or turned them away, depending on who it was. Jack knew he wouldn't normally bother with something so trivial, but let it go. After all, Chase had his reasons for everything.

If it hadn't been for the current circumstances, and if he hadn't been so curious as to the reason of her visit, she would have most definitely been turned away. As it was, he needed some way of distracting himself from this... whatever it was.

"Chase, how nice it is to see you," She breezed past him.

"What do you want, Wuya."

"Now, is that any way to treat an old friend?" She fluttered her eyelashes.

"You are not, nor will you ever be my 'friend', but as for the old part, I can't argue." He smirked, leaning against the doorway.

She hissed lightly through her teeth, green flames springing up around her, but regained her composure quickly. "I'm just here to warn you." she purred, making her way over to him and touching his face with one hand. He regarded her coldly, but said nothing. "The boy you've taken in, Jack..."

"What of him?"

"He's powerful..." she said, wrapping her arms around the other witch.

He looked down at her, disgust plain on his face. "I know. What of it?"

She pouted, stepping back and turning away from him. "I just thought you should know, one day, if he lives, he'll surpass even you."

Chase wasn't entirely surprised. "So? I realized this weeks ago." The boy may have been weak and flawed in some aspects, but in a few thousand years he would be incredibly powerful if his training continued.

A devious smile spread across her face, hidden from view. "When that day comes, he'll kill you."

**Really, Wuya, really?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, ok, I'll admit I may be obsessively updating, but I swear I can quit anytime I want! I have to say, though, I probably would get bored of this story and start something else if I didn't get feedback, cuz do you guys know how discouraging that is? To the reviewers, especially Manny Heatlook & Moonheart13, thanks!**

Chase didn't even blink. "As I am sure you are painfully aware, he has absolutely no intention of killing me. I suppose a few thousand years from now his attitude may have changed considerably, but he'll die within the next eighty at best. Aside from this, why would you care what happens to me?" A spark of malice glinted in his eyes, and had Wuya been facing him, she would have taken several steps backwards.

The witch overdramatically put the back of her hand to her forehead in a pathetic imitation of a swoon. "You have such little faith in me, and after all the trouble I took in coming here!"

"I would appreciate it if you would leave now. My friends and I are not fond of _snakes."_ As if on cue, two of Chases warriors emerged from the shadows in cat form, growling.

At this, Wuya did take a step backwards, but regained her composure quickly. _"Fine,"_ She hissed. "but don't say I didn't warn you." And with that, she was gone.

After she felt she was far enough away from Chase's domain, she grinned again. Sure, she hadn't managed to convince him the boy was treacherous, but the seeds of doubt had been sown.

When Chase began withdrawing from the boy, she would have the perfect opening to try coaxing the child onto her side. The trap would close, and the life of Jack Spicer would be extinguished.

The boy did, after all, have a reason to trust her instead of Chase, and there was a chance he could be useful to her before his 'oh so unfortunate' demise. She'd have the kid wrapped around her finger by the end of the week!

It brought her joy to see her child so pathetic. Easy to manipulate indeed.

...

"You OK?" Jack asked for what was probably the fifth time that day. Chase had been acting odd lately. They didn't talk very much, and whenever Jack confronted him about it, he would just excuse himself or send Jack off to do something.

"I am perfectly fine. There is something I must attend to immediately in the south wing." Like now, for instance.

Jack was just about fed up with this. As Chase left, he stormed out of the palace, sitting angrily on the cliff face. There was no reason to mistrust him, so why was he acting like the albino was planning to stab him in the back?

"Oh, poor little Jacky."

Jack started. He hadn't heard Wuya come up behind him.

"The everlord doesn't trust you, does he?" she sympathized.

"Hey, Wuya." He sighed. He was not in the mood to deal with her right now.

"I know! You can come with me! I'll show you what real magic is like! Famine, pestilence, curses, you can _destroy_ that old town that betrayed you."

"I don't really want to. I have to go." He got up and turned back towards the entrance.

The witch grabbed his arm roughly. "Now, now, is that any way to treat your _mother?"_

"W-what?" He swallowed nervously. "My mom is-"

"She isn't your real mother, Jacky. She can't even have children. That's why your parents came to me." She enjoyed the look of fear and confusion on his face for a moment before continuing. "They begged me to help, so I... stepped in for your mother."

**(Eeeew...)**

"You're lying." He glared at her with defiance.

She scoffed. "You really think so? We do share a certain resemblance." She gestured to her own red hair. "Come with me, Jack. You can't trust that Chase person, not after the way he's been treating you." She used a bit of magic to conjure Jack's earlier memories of being ordered around, and the more recent ones of being ignored. "I bet he hasn't even told you about Shen Gong Wu yet."

"Of course he has! They're a crutch, magic is more powerful." He retorted.

"Has he ever told you about what would happen if you used magic _with_ one? The spell you cast will be infinitely more powerful." She conveniently left out how channeling one's magic through a Wu would burn them out from the inside, leaving them a lifeless husk.

Jack hesitated. "No, he didn't."

"He's afraid you'll become more powerful than him one day. He's been holding out on you. Join me, we can rule the world!"

A flicker of pain made itself known on the albino's face. "I thought he..."

"What, you thought he _cared_ about you? The great Chase cares about no one, least of all a little _freak_ like you." this was too easy!

Jack nodded and stood, determination hardening his features. "Alright, Wuya, I accept."

She grinned, and took the boy's hand. There was a flash of light, then darkness.

...

Chase cursed, watching the scene through his Eye Spy Orb. Of _course_ Wuya had been planning something like this! He had allowed her to manipulate him as if he was some pathetic mortal. After knowing the treacherous woman for nearly 1500 years, he should have known better! Instead, he had listened to her, and now she had Jack.

They were already gone by the time he thought to go after them. This was just perfect, wasn't it. Jack had been learning, but he was still far too trusting for his own good.

Or distrusting, specifically of him.

He hadn't heard the words that were exchanged, but he noticed the boy's pained expression and figured out what it meant fairly quickly.

When he got his hands on that traitorous witch, he would destroy her. Rip off her arms and legs, maybe strip away her soul, leaving her as an intangible, a ghost, if you will.

One way or another,

She. Would. Pay.

**Yes! One update per day! Er... more or less. It's 11:50 here and now, so technically I still made it.**

**Man I hate Wuya.**

**Anyway, review, peoples! Sorry it was so short, this was kind of rushed.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Really sorry for the delay, I hit writers block _hard_, but hey, who else is trapped in their house with practically nothing to do but type to the point where they update (nearly) every day?**

**I know the Wu wouldn't be activating yet, but the story wouldn't be very interesting otherwise. They activate every 1100 years instead of 1500, alright?**

**Cherucha: I'm actually bringing more characters into the story in this chapter, but I'm not entirely sure how I'd incorporate Ashley into this, so we'll see.**

**MeredyxD: Thanks! As long as I keep getting feedback, I won't get bored, promise.**

"So, I just grab the Wu and leave?"

"Exactly." Wuya told him.

Jack frowned. "Then why don't you do it if it's so simple?"

"Because... because it's your job!" she snapped. "Just go down there and get it. It's simple enough."

He peered nervously down the stairs that lead into the Xiaolin vault. "But it's dark in there!"

The witch rolled her eyes, but accompanied the whiny boy inside. Soon enough, they found what they were looking for, a gold pendant with a square ruby set in the middle.

"Are you sure? This thing doesn't exactly look _powerful_. What it it?"

"This is called the Eye of Dashi." She said coolly.

"Eye of Dashi..." he repeated. Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot out of the center, leaving smoldering remnants in the place of what had been thriving plants just moments ago. "Cool!"

"Not so speedy, witch!"

"Not so _fast_, Omi."

"But _I_ am not the one who needs to stop."

"No, that's-" the person sighed. "Never mind."

Jack and Wuya turned to see four strange looking people advancing. The short yellow one, Omi, was arguing with another male, this one taller and with brown hair. A pretty girl with blue eyes and nearly black hair stood to the side looking annoyed, and next to them was a tall blond fellow with a green snake-thing across his shoulders. All were dressed in the about the same red shirt (or dress, in the girl's case) and blue sash signifying their status as witch hunters.

"I don' mean to interrupt, but they're gettin away quicker 'n pigs afore bacon night."

Jack had cast a flying spell while they were preoccupied, and he and Wuya were well out of reach at that point. "Later, losers!" He called to the slightly shocked monks.

"Who was that?" Omi wondered.

Kimiko shrugged. "I don't know, but he took the Wu!" she turned to glare at Raimundo and Omi. "If you two hadn't been fighting, this wouldn't have happened!"

"What, so this is our fault?" Raimundo interjected.

"Yes!" Dojo, Kimiko, and Clay said in unison.

...

"Who were those guys?" Jack asked once they were out of range.

"Xiaolin Monks."

"Right... Just pretend for a second that I've been locked in a basement for the last twenty years and have no idea what you're talking about."

"They're elemental witch hunters."

"Elemental?"

"Each one of them controls a different element, earth, air, water, and fire."

"I thought only witches could use magic?"

"They are witches, sort of. Since they've picked the side of _good,_" she said with utter disdain, "their powers are limited to one element."

"Huh. Losers."

Wuya rolled her eyes. Jack was mildly competent at _best_, but he _had_ retrieved the Eye of Dashi, so he wasn't completely useless.

"So... where do we go now?" He questioned.

"_You're_ going back to the cave, and_ I_ have some business back in Virginia."

"Wait, you mean I actually have to _live_ there? I thought you were kidding!" he gaped. "I don't want to sleep in some drippy old cave!"

"You could crawl back to Chase, leave your poor old mother to deal with all of this on her own..." She had thought she was laying it on a little thick, but Jack bought it. What a fool.

His grip tightened on the Wu. "No, I won't." If Chase didn't care about him, he didn't care about Chase either.

Suddenly Wuya scowled. She turned slightly to the left and made an odd waving motion with her hands, muttering darkly under her breath.

"Um... everything OK over there?"

She grinned a little. "Just taking care of a pest."

...

Chase cursed as his Eye Spy Ord went dark, taking away the image of Wuya and Jack.

He had wanted to find out where Wuya was making Jack stay, but the second he'd located them, Wuya had looked directly at him and broken off the connection. Since when had _she_ been able to do that? He had made sure to lock away most of her powers!

There was only one reasonable explanation he could think of. She was working with someone.

_Hannibal._

That dirty little-! What was she thinking!? And dragging Jack into this as well!? Chase wouldn't be surprised it she was making the boy go after Shen Gong Wu! In fact, there was a very good chance she was. Great. Didn't she know what those things could do to a witch if they got careless? Of course she did. That's why she went after Jack, and Jack wasn't exactly mindful of his actions.

A few very nasty words worked themselves across the dragon's mind.

He motioned for two of his warriors to follow him.

...

Today had gone rather well. She now had the Eye, which was really the only thing she needed, and Chase had trained the boy well. He wasn't bad to work with, actually. To bad he'd be dead soon.

She was back in Virginia. It was near midnight, so nobody had seen her land, and her house was far enough away from the village it wouldn't matter much if there were people awake.

The door slammed shut behind her. She gasped and whirled around. There was enough moonlight coming in from the windows that she could see a familiar shape, but she waved one of her hands, lighting up the many half-melted candles and casting an eerie green glow around the room.

"Hello, Wuya." The man said.

She glared at the intruder. "Chase. What do you want?"

The dragon stepped forward. "I would like to know what you want with my apprentice."

She casually flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Didn't you hear? He's my son."

At this, the Heylin lord laughed. "Please. You never have any interest in your children unless they can do something for you, and if I recall correctly, you tried to have him killed."

She dropped the act, her features morphing into a snarl. "I want you to suffer! I want you to _pay_ for taking away what was rightfully mine!"

Chase examined his nails. "If you want to intimidate me, I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific."

"My powers, you bastard! You _stole them from me_!" Green flames began to coil and writhe around her, scorching the stone floor. "I want you to feel _despair_ and _pain_ like you've never even _seen_ while you kill the one thing that matters, or_ he_ kills _you!"_

The dragon scoffed. "You think _Spicer_ can hurt me?"

"I wasn't lying when I said he'd grow more powerful than you. He has the ability to destroy one of us."

"That's why you accused him of witchcraft. He'd either join you or die."

"Exactly. And I'm quite happy with the way things have turned out."

"But as you said, it will take him quite a long time to be able to compete with me."

The fire dissipated. "Not if he uses a Shen Gong Wu. Specifically, the Eye of Dashi, which I just so happen to have."

"That would kill him as well!"

"Easy clean up."

"Where is he?" The immortal growled.

It was Wuya's turn to laugh. "You really think I'd tell you?"

Chase snapped his fingers, and two large cats emerged from the darkness.

The witch only rolled her eyes. "You can't kill me, and you can't hurt me. What's more, you are in _my_ home," She smiled evilly, "and that means _my rules_."

He and his warriors immediately found themselves back in the palace, disbelief plain on their faces. This was very bad. Wuya had her powers back.

_**They see me mowin'  
My front lawn  
I know they're all thinking  
I'm so White n' nerdy  
**_**Oh, uh, hi! Er... how's it going? Singing? Whaaaat? I wasn't _singing_, don't be ridiculous!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for yet another delay, family and holiday and whatnot, you know how it is. Again, I have to start school next week, so I can't type all the time.**

**Manny Heatlook: Of course not! I don't ****_sing!_**** That's insane! Ok, maybe I was a little bit... It's a catchy song!**

**akitawolf: Sorry, I was trying not to let that happen, but I agree, Wuya was too manipulative. As for the Chase thing, he pretty much hates Jack in the show, so yeah. I'll try harder to keep them in character this chapter, sorry again...**

**Moonheart13: Well, I bet you weren't expecting THIS EITHER!  
er... you'll have to keep reading, but it'll happen eventually...  
Actually, you might have been expecting it, there aren't a lot of directions for this story to go, and- I'm gonna start blathering here. Just... just ignore me... *sulks in corner***

...

The plant waited until the dragon witch was completely gone before revealing himself. "Now that that's outta the way, we can get down to buisness."

"Quite right." Wuya agreed.

Hannibal turned to look at the witch. "You have the Eye of Dashi, correct?"

She held up the object. It glimmered strangely in the green light.

"Excellent. By tomorrow night, the mighty Chase Young'll be nothin' more than a pile o' ashes, and the world'll be ours!"

The two of them cackled, not noticing a black crow directly outside the window take flight.

...

The four witch hunters stopped practicing the second they saw who was coming towards them.

They angrily ran towards the intruder, who easily avoided or blocked every futile attempt to injure him, grinning the entire time. Omi yelled furiously, aiming a kick at his opponent's head. He was caught by the leg in midair, and the man tossed him carelessly over one shoulder.

"As much as I enjoy putting you fools in your place," he said dryly, "I must speak with Master Fung. It is most urgent."

"We will not allow you passage, Chase Young!" Omi shouted, standing up from where he had hit the ground, ego more damaged than himself.

"Let him be, Omi." Came a new voice.

"But Master Fung!" Omi yelled, "This is our enemy!"

"This is no time for fighting, small one." Chase interrupted.

The yellow monk glowered at the referral to his stature, but allowed the other to pass, and the four followed to the temple.

...

"I see..." Fung said after a long silence. "This is pressing indeed."

"I don't know about this..." Dojo said warily. "He doesn't exactly have a good track record."

"Why would you ask us for help?" The Japanese girl asked.

"I don't want Hannibal or Wuya in charge any more than you do." Chase had gone back to his previous attitude of indifference, "But this is self preservation, nothing else." the lies flew from his mouth easily.

"You cannot be serious! This is Chase Young! I will not help him!" He crossed his arms and glared in a sign of defiance.

Kimiko put a calming hand on his shoulder. "We don't like this any more than you do, Omi, but-"

"It's not like we have a choice." Raimundo interjected. "She's tried this whole 'ruling the world' stuff before, and if she's getting her powers back..." he shrugged, letting the sentence hang in the air.

"You are correct, my friends." The young monk hung his head. "I am most ashamed of my actions."

Chase stood up slowly. "You of all people are obliged to help, seeing as you are the fool who released Hannibal in the first place." He smirked.

Years ago, a grey parrot had taken most of their Shen Gong Wu, and Rai had followed it into the Ying Yang world. Hannibal had used the Moby Morpher to turn into the missing boy, and Omi had unknowingly released the bean from his prison.

The Xiaolins glared at Chase.

"Now, that ain't very nahce," Clay drawled "We are offerin' ta help you."

The smirk flickered out of existence. "Of course."

"Not trying to be rude or anything, but what do you expect _us_ to do about this?"

Golden eyes locked with green ones, and the Heylin advanced on the youth. They were nearly the same height at this point, and the Brazilian stood his ground.

"I _expect_ you to at least accept the fact that in this case, I am not the one you are fighting. We face a common enemy, I believe."

"How do we know you won't just double cross us and take over the world yourself?" He retorted.

"Currently, I have no interest in world domination. All I desire is the destruction of a certain sentient legume."

The four teenagers and Dojo stared at him blankly and the silence was only broken by Raimundo's "Um... what?"

"Allow me to dumb it down for you," Chase shot out through clenched teeth. "All I want to do is kill Hannibal." He told them slowly. "Surely even _you_ can understand that."

"Alright. So, what's the plan?" Kimiko asked.

Chase's grin returned.

...

"Get up, you lazy fool, we have work to do." Wuya sneered from the entrance of the cave.

It was so _bright_ and his back hurt and he wanted to go _home! _Jack groaned, but obliged, peeling himself off of the rocky ground. He blinked tiredly. That had probably been one of the worst nights of his life. At least in the basement he had straw, and when he was with Cha-

He stopped that train of thought before it could go anywhere else, or more specifically Wuya's enchantment stopped it. She had placed it on him a day prior, it kept the fool from wanting to leave her and go back to being the other witch's apprentice.

"That whole world domination thing?" He mumbled. "Yeah, sounds cool. Can I go to sleep now?" Thank god Wuya had promised him the cave would be a one-time deal, he would never get used to all the rocks. Not to mention how dark it got...

"No!" She snapped. "I told you, we need to work!"

A small speck jumped off her shoulder. "You seem like a fine boy to do the job, too." It sneered.

The albino looked down, slightly befuddled. "I'm awake, right?"

"Yes, you are, boy." Hannibal spoke to him like he was slow. What an idiot Wuya had picked!

"Then why is a bean talking to me?"

The two Heylins only glared in response.

"Anyway," Hannibal said after a moment, "Here's the plan."

**No, you don't get to know what the plans are! Anyway, I think there's only going to be two more chapters. If I can escape my relatives for long enough, I might actually get them both written and posted before Monday!**

**Sorry this was so short, but I didn't have time for much else.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I think I fixed most of it this time around, but let me know if I screwed up, kay?**

The Xiaolin monks, and Chase, eyed the structure, which was made all the more daunting by the encroaching darkness of night.

Wuya had issued the formal challenge a few hours ago, insisting they all meet at the Roman Colosseum of all places. Just like her to make such big deal out of this. It was almost completely silent, everyone within a two mile radius having most likely been scared off or killed, and every breath seemed far too loud.

Kimiko shivered slightly, this was not how she'd thought things would go. She didn't know what she'd been imagining, but it certainly wasn't this. In contrast, Omi, Clay, and Raimundo looked forward with a grim determination, mouths set into harsh lines. The four stood side by side, mentally preparing for what would surely be the fight of their lives.

Chase detested being associated with the monks, but there was really no way around it this time. Of course, he wasn't fond of being associated with the witches, either, least of all that ridiculous plant.

The dragon witch's lips quirked as his sensitive ears picked up muffled voices. It sounded like the three Heylins weren't getting along very well.

"Oh, shut up, you whiny little fool!" Wuya screamed.

"I am not whiny!" He whined. Ah, Jack. Just burtsing with clever retorts, as always. Their conversation-turned-shouting-match continued back and forth for some time, and it was a simple task to follow the noise straight to them.

Hannibal finally broke up their verbal war. "He's coming, so if you all'd kindly stop arguing?"

The voices did stop then, and, much to Chase's amusement, the witch hunters tightened their grips on their weapons.

Before they could launch an attack, however, he stepped in front of them. "Spicer," his gaze bored into the red eyes of his apprentice. "what do you think you're doing exactly?"

"Like you care." The boy scoffed. "I'm just some freak who can't make his own decisions, right?"

His glare softened. "That's not-"

"Enough of this!" Wuya interrupted, launching a green ball of fire towards her enemies.

It was easily avoided, and the magic flame sunk into the ground.

"Ha!" Raimundo shouted, "That all... you..." he trailed off and his eyes widened comically as a giant humanoid made of rock tore itself out of the ground, roaring angrily and swatting at the four witch hunters.

It rose to its full height, destroying nearly half of the Colosseum. The thing was easily ninety feet tall, and about half as thick. An eerie glow the color of Wuya's flame eminated from the holes that functioned as its mouth and eyes.

Wuya and Hannibal stood back watched the fight as the Xiaolins tried in vain to defeat the monstrosity, but Chase was more focused on Jack, who looked nervously at the scene around him, still not entirely used to the world of magic.

Chase made his way over to the boy rather slowly, having to dodge around pieces of the rock giant that dropped to the ground every so often, but eventually was only a few feet away. Jack was enthralled with the fighting and hadn't noticed him yet.

"Spicer." He practically whispered.

The boy stiffened and turned around. "Chase." He aimed the Eye of Dashi towards the dragon witch carefully, face betraying no emotion besides anger.

"Spi- Jack. Stop this before it gets out of hand," He was nearly begging, inwardly cursing his own pathetic incompetence. How could he have let it get this far?

"Not likely, Chase. See, I'm not powerless anymore. I can do things now, things even the great _Chase Young_ _can't."_ He spat the name. "I'm not some pathetic kid you can just boss around. I'm in charge now, got it?"

The witch allowed himself to momentarily show his anger. Wuya had taken what was his, and he wasn't one to let that slide. "You do not know what you do, fool." He hissed between gritted teeth. "Wuya will have no need for you after this, and she will throw you away like _trash."_

"Yeah?" Jack shouted, "What would you know? She's my mother, she wouldn't do that!" His tone showed the slightest bit of uncertainty.

"Of course she would. Wuya is selfish and manipulative, she wouldn't want a coward like _you_ around." Two pairs of eyes widened equally in surprise, then Jack's narrowed again. He really hadn't meant to say that, the words had just slipped out in a small fit of anger.

"That's what I thought. I'm nothing to you, just some silly little toy to play with and throw away. I looked up to you, you were my hero. WHY THE HELL DO YOU HATE ME?!"

He had lived over a thousand years, but this caught him off guard. Did Spicer really think he hated him? He had been hard on the boy, certainly, but hate? A more false assumption had never been made. "I do not hate you, Jack. I merely-"

"SHUT UP! YOU DON'T _GET_ TO MAKE EXCUSES ANYMORE!" An orange glow formed around his hands as he concentrated his magic there. "EYE OF DASHI!" He screamed.

Chase barely had time to dodge out of the way as an incredibly powerful bolt of lightning shot out of the artifact. Chase was several feet away, but he could still feel the electricity around him, air supercharged from the blast. What the energy did hit, however, was the giant, which practically exploded into tiny pieces of rubble.

"No!" he snarled, teleporting to where Jack Spicer now lay.

Tiny bolts of magic still crackled around him, but they were dying down, slowly becoming weaker as power seeped from their user. Carefully, the dragon knelt down beside the body. Completely oblivious to everyone else, he drew the limp form close, trying to ignore the way his head lolled backwards, how _still_ he was. Dead. If he had been more careful-!

Calming himself, Chase drew a portion of his own life out, pressing his mouth to the dead boy's, and forcing it into his body. For a long, terrifying minute, nothing happened, then Jack's eyes flew open. he gasped for air, coughs shaking his small frame, then collapsed again. The dragon witch was relieved to see his chest still moving. Returning from death took a lot of energy, it was no wonder the albino was unconscious.

"Um..." Raimundo said awkwardly, standing a good distance from the two. "Hannibal got away on some weird bird thing, but we had this..." He held a small wooden puzzle box out to the relieved Heylin. "Wuya's, um... there, I guess, so..."

"Keep it." Chase said roughly.

All four looked surprised.

"You do not want your teammate returned to you? Oh, this is most wondrous!" Omi cheered.

Kimiko angrily hit the smaller monk in the back of the head, then turned to Chase. "Sorry," She said.

Chase waited until he saw the Chinese dragon take off before disappearing, taking Jack with him.

...

Jack was recovering, if slowly. The ordeal had left him almost completely drained. The only magic he could do now was to create a small blue flame. It was terrible for light, but the boy used it to his advantage on numerous occasions while he pursued his new hobby, inventing.

He had made these odd cylindrical devices that, when zapped with the Eye of Dashi, would lend power to things for an amount of time. Using the nearly limitless resources he now had at his disposal, he finally managed to craft a light that worked without fire out of glass, metal, and something called 'wire'. He had dubbed his creation a 'lightbulb'. Of course, this was for personal use only. No normal humans would be able to craft things like this for some time.

Chase did not understand Jack's obsession with these things, but it gave the boy something to do.

"What are you doing?" He asked, intrigued.

He grinned and extinguished the small fire, holding a metal plate out for the dragon witch to inspect. "It's so simple! I don't know why I've never thought of it before!"

"It, Spicer?" He raised an eyebrow.

Still smiling, the boy turned back around, grabbing a few more pieces of scrap. "When I'm done with this thing, it'll do whatever I say!"

"You seem to be forgetting about them." He gestured to a nearby warrior, this one a large jaguar who was laying next to the entrance. "What, pray tell, is the difference?"

The albino scowled. "This is cooler."

The jaguar gave an indignant huff and padded off to find another place to nap.

"What happened to those Xiaolin losers?" Jack asked absently. "Haven't seen them in a while."

"We have done nothing sufficiently evil as to attract their attention, I suppose," Chase muttered, smoothly stepping around piles of forgotten projects to come to a stop behind Jack.

"Yeah. We really need to get out more." Jack remarked, placing a few wires carefully along the lining.

With Wuya being trapped in a puzzle box, Hannibal having all but disappeared off the face of the earth, and Chase having no interest in the Wu, the monks would be picking up the magic items almost unchallenged, and were most definitely beginning to get cocky.

"Maybe later." The Heylin witch decided. He didn't really need to take over the world just yet. He had all of eternity, _and after all_, he thought, nuzzling Jack affectionately, _my world is right here._


End file.
